"The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee accused Elon Musk of tanking a bipartisan spending bill because it included a provision that could limit his businesses’ ability to operate in China."

"In a Friday letter to congressional leaders, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) claimed Musk derailed the deal that would have avoided a government shutdown 'in order to protect his wallet and the Chinese Communist Party at the expense of American workers, innovators and businesses.'"

"The spending agreement released Tuesday included a bipartisan provision to limit and screen U.S. investments in China, among dozens of other proposals attached to the 1,500-page bill."

"As the CEO and largest stockholder in Tesla, Musk has extensive business connections to China. The company operates a major manufacturing plant in Shanghai and has sought to build deeper connections with Chinese companies."

"DeLauro cited Tesla’s operations in China as a reason for Musk to derail a bill containing limits on investments in the country, and she cited potential issues with technologies such as self-driving cars and long-lasting batteries being made in China."

“'It is extremely alarming that House Republican leadership, at the urging of an unelected
billionaire, scrapped a bipartisan, bicameral negotiated funding deal that included this critical provision to protect American jobs and critical capabilities,' DeLauro wrote."

https://thehill.com/business/5051709-musk-delauro-spending-bill-china/

Musk succeeded in stripping out the China provision.

Democrats had better get used to the idea that MUSK is running things, not Trump. I know we say it and joke about it here on DU. But we can see from this episode that it is real, and we also think we know that Trump is too demented and probably originally too stupid about world affairs (by choice), to really understand how Musk is playing him.

I hope Democratic Party strategists will start paying heed to this dynamic. This is how it will go for the next 4 years, or at least 2. And the only way we kill it in 2 years, is if the majority of the electorate also realizes how badly WE are getting rolled by Musk.